


sometimes choices make you

by brookethenerd



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 08:04:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3684555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookethenerd/pseuds/brookethenerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most people are nervous about their first time. To make the real first time less stressful, Annabeth and Percy agree to get it over with. But, like always, it goes wrong, because someone gets feelings for the other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sometimes choices make you

**Author's Note:**

> (all characters belong to rick riordan)  
> guys im such percabeth trash this is cheesy as fuck but whatever im in too deep to really care

Annabeth lays back on Percy’s bed, listening to him type away at his computer.

“Percy Jackson, are you actually doing your homework?” She asks, raising up onto her elbows. Percy turns and glares at her, before turning back to his screen.

“It’s worth 40% of my grade, and I have a D, so I’m attempting to write this stupid essay.” He grumbles, hitting the space bar with passion.

“You could always ask your best friend for help. I bet she’d be happy to do it.” She says, humming nothing in particular.

“Well, tell my best friend that I have to do this by myself, or my teacher will figure it out.”

“Take a break.” Annabeth says, tapping his chair with her foot.

“Is Annabeth Chase, genius, straight A student, telling me to stop doing my homework?” He asks, turning his head and arching a brow.

“It’s never going to happen again.” She warns. Percy grins, and closes his laptop. He lays down on the bed beside Annabeth, both of them staring up at his ceiling.

“Can I ask you something?” Percy asks.

“Hmm?”

“Do you ever think about your first time?”

“First time…?”

Annabeth turns her head, and watches Percy lick his lips nervously.

“You know. The _first time._ ”

“Oh.” Annabeth says, eyes widening, “I mean sure. I guess. Doesn’t everyone think about it?”

“I feel like I won’t know how to do it. How will I even, I don’t know-“

“You’re asking me? Both of us are virgins, Percy, if you haven’t noticed.” Annabeth jokes, nudging his side with her elbow.

“Do you ever just wish you could get it over with? There’s so much hype about it, and it seems like it’d be easier to just, be done with it. That way you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“It’s not like I can walk up to someone and just ask them to have sex with me. It doesn’t work like that.”

Percy nods his head, and Annabeth can see the gears turning in his head. She looks back up at the ceiling, waiting for him to spit it out.

“We could just get it over with.” Percy says softly. Annabeth turns her head towards him, and sees that he’s done the same.

“Get it over with?”

Percy’s face flushes, and he clears his throat.

“Yeah. I mean, we’ve been best friends since we were 7, and it’s been so long, it wouldn’t be weird, right? We could just get it over with, and not have to worry about it anymore.”

Annabeth’s heart thrums in her chest, and she sits up. Percy sits next to her, and neither of them speaks.

“It was a stupid idea. I’m sorry. I just thought-“Percy says after a minute of silence.

“Let’s do it.” Annabeth says suddenly, surprising herself.

“Annabeth-“

“No. I don’t want to worry about messing it up the first time, especially if it’s with someone special. We can get it over with now, and then all the initial freak-out will be over.”

“Are you sure?” Percy asks, furrowing his brows.

“Yes.” She breathes.

“Do you want me-want me to get a-a you know-“

Annabeth flushes, and nods her head. Percy reaches over and grabs the foil packet from inside his nightstand, and Annabeth laughs.

“Prepared, I see?” Percy smiles shyly, his cheeks scarlet.

Annabeth bites her lip, and stands up. She swings a leg across Percy’s lap, hands on his shoulders.

“We’re getting it over with.” She says, more for herself than him. Her heart is banging in her chest, but she ignores it.

She flicks her eyes from Percy’s eyes to his mouth, licking her lips.

“When will your mom be home?” She asks.

“Not until midnight. She has a night shift.”

“And Paul?”

“At an English convention upstate.”

Annabeth nods, and takes in a breath.

She closes her eyes, and brushes her lips against Percy’s. His hands slide onto her hips, moving to graze the soft skin of her back. His hands move underneath her shirt, their lips never faltering. Her hands lace through his hair, tugging it lightly. Percy falls back onto the bad, and pulls Annabeth’s shirt over her head. She tugs his off, and they both land on the floor. She goes back in to kiss him, hitting his nose with hers. She laughs nervously, and so does Percy. He flips her underneath him, hands sliding along the edge of her shorts. She kicks them off, and unclasps her bra for him. He opens the packet, which makes a crinkling sound, and Annabeth tries her hardest not to giggle. The whole situation is so insane, she can’t believe she’s actual laying here right now, her best friend tugging her underwear down.

And it hurts at first, but after a minute, her hands grip Percy’s shoulders, her head tipped back on the bed. It’s better than she ever expected it to be, and she knows Percy, the slope of his shoulders, the trace of his spine. They’ve been friends for years, had multiple sleepovers, and knows him inside and out.

But not in this way. Not the way his eyelids flutter when her hands run along his stomach, the way he feels, body moving against hers.

She sees the way his eyes shut when he tips over the edge, the heaviness of his breathing when he rolls over, lying next to her, neither of them touching anymore.

Annabeth lies in his bed, holding his sheets up to her neck.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought.” Percy says, running a hand through his mussed up hair.

“No.” Annabeth replies, not meeting his eyes.

“It’s not gonna be weird, right?” He asks. There is a pit in Annabeth’s stomach, and she grabs her underwear from the floor, pulling it on under the blanket. She pulls a t shirt over her head, not caring that it’s Percy’s.

“No. It’s not.” She tells him, faking a smile. She puts on her shorts, and slips into her shoes, tucking her sweaty hair behind her ears. She ignores the ache between her legs, and walks over to the door. She turns before she gets there, and finds Percy sitting back against his headboard, watching her.

“You don’t have to go.” He tells her, an odd look on his face.

“You have an essay to write.” She says, a plastic smile on her lips.

Before he can reply she shuts the door behind her, hurrying out of his small apartment. She barely makes it into the elevator before the tears are streaming down her face.

Regret and guilt swirl together inside her, and she cups a hand over her mouth. She knows it’s stupid, she does, but she can’t stop the flood of emotion that is flowing through her veins.

She pulls her phone out, and dials Rachel.

“Hello?” The redhead says.

“Rachel?” Annabeth says through sobs.

“Annabeth? What’s going on?” Rachel asks.

“I had sex with him.”

“What? With who?” Rachel questions, the shock present in her voice.

“Percy.”

There is silence on the other end, and Annabeth is almost sure she’s hung up.

“Meet me at the coffee joint on 3rd. Five minutes.”

-

“I’d love an explanation as to why you slept with your best friend, and why you’re crying.” Rachel asks, sitting down across from Annabeth.

She tells Rachel the story, sipping on her coffee, cupping its warmth in her hands.

“You wanted to get it over with?”

Annabeth nods.

“Stupid! I love you, Annabeth Chase, I do, and usually you’re incredibly smart, but you are so stupid!” Rachel exclaims, running a hand over her face.

“What?”

“You’re an idiot. You slept with your best friend. And now it’s going to be weird.”

“No we told each other it wouldn’t be-“Annabeth says helplessly. Rachel sighs, and folds her hands across the table.

“You ran out of there crying. It’s going to be weird.”

“Dammit!” Rachel says, slumping back in her chair.

“You fucked up.”

“I know.” Annabeth replies.

“You used protection, right?” Rachel asks.

“Of course!”

“I’m just checking. You’re sure it didn’t break right?”

“Yes. I’m sure.” Annabeth says, trying to ignore the present twinge in her stomach.

“How was it?” Rachel asks, a curious edge to her voice.

Annabeth shakes her head, tossing her hair back.

“It was great, actually. I mean, it wasn’t perfect, at least I don’t think so, but he actually made sure that I was okay and didn’t make it all about him and he did this thing-“

“Whoa whoa whoa. Hold it. I don’t wanna know that much.” Rachel says, holding up her hands.

“It was good.” Annabeth says.

“You’re okay, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Just a little shell shocked, I think.” Annabeth tells her, nodding her head.

“What happens now?” Rachel asks.

“I don’t know.”

“You gonna just pretend it didn’t happen?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. He’s my best friend. We both wanted to do it.”

Rachel sighs, and takes a bite of her muffin.

“I hope you know what you got yourself into.”

-

Percy: movie marathon? Back to the future?

Annabeth looks down at her phone, ignoring the quickening of her pulse when she sees who the message is from. She hasn’t seen Percy in 4 days, since what she’s been labeling ‘the incident’, and she keeps making excuses to avoid him. But he’s her best friend, and she can’t do this forever.

Annabeth: be there in 20

She puts on leggings and a long sleeved shirt, trying to hide her body as much as possible, though he’s already seen everything, and there’s really no point.

She zips her jacket up, trudging through the icy streets to Percy’s apartment.

When she gets to his door, she hesitates, wanting to turn and run away. But she knocks anyways, regretting it the minute she does.

Percy opens the door, a smile on his face.

“Hey.”

“Hey. I brought candy.” Annabeth says, mirroring his smile. She holds up a bag of assorted blue candy, one of Percy’s weird things. His eyes light up, and he takes it from her.

“You’re the best.” He says. It sends a flutter through her stomach, but she shoves it down.

“I know.”

He plops down on the couch, long legs stretched out in front of him. Annabeth perches on the other side, as far from him as possible.

“What, you not feeling the best-friend-snuggle vibe?” Percy teases, patting next to him. She blushes, and shakes her head. She scoots closer, leaning into his side. He pokes her in the side, ticking her stomach. She giggles, and swats his hand away.

“Ill bite you.” She warns.

“Ahhh, there’s Annabeth Chase. I was wondering where my best friend was.” He winks at her, and she rolls her eyes.

“Put the movie in, dumbo.”

He grins, and presses play, starting it. He elbows her in the side repeatedly, and she does the same. She stretches her feet out, purposefully kicking him.

“Oh, that’s how you want to play it?” He asks, arching his brows. He grabs her foot and pulls her close, resulting in a squeal. He pins her underneath him, their stomachs pressed together. He flicks his eyes from her mouth to her eyes. She doesn’t move, she can’t move, she doesn’t want to move.

After a moment he moves, letting her up. This time, he doesn’t say anything when she sits a foot away from him, and they don’t speak for the rest of the movie. Annabeth ducks out early, and pretends she doesn’t miss the feel of his body pressed against her side.

-

“Are you coming this weekend?” Percy asks, standing next to Annabeth’s locker as she grabs her books.

“The camping trip? I don’t know.” Annabeth says, biting her lip.

“Come on, everyone’s going! It’ll be fun!” Percy says.

“I hate tents.”

“I have a big air mattress. I’ll totally let you share.” He says.

Annabeth arches a brow, crossing her arms.

“What do I get from this?”

“The pleasure of making your best friend happy, and s’mores.”

Annabeth groans, leaning back into the metal.

“Fine. But I want lots of s’mores. So many that it makes me sick.”

“That can be arranged.” He grins, and shuts her locker.

-

“If I get eaten by a bear it’s your fault.” Annabeth says, nudging Percy’s side.

“Kay.” He replies, jamming a marshmallow in his mouth.

“Annabeth, nother one?” Rachel mumbles through graham cracker, holding up a stick.

“I’m good. I’ve had 10.” She says, laughing.

“Your loss.” Rachel tells her.

After a minute, Jason plugs his phone into the small radio he brought, and music is thumping around their tiny makeshift campsite. He pulls Piper to her feet, and dances crazily, waving his arms. After a moment, she joins in, a wild look in her eyes. Rachel pulls Annabeth, and with a moment’s hesitation, she grabs Percy. Hazel and Frank disappeared into the woods a little while ago, but no one worries, because everyone knows where they are. The kissing rock. The make out spot for teens for the last 50 years.

Leo and the new girl Calypso dance too, and she tips her head back and giggles every time Leo does another insane dance move.

“I told you it would be fun!” Percy says, leaning down to her ear, grazing the lobe. She shivers, but nods, jumping and swaying along with the music.

“You were right.” She replies, yelling over the song.

“I usually am!”

“I think you’re mistaken. It’s me who’s always right.” She teases, looping her arm through his.

He winks at her, spinning her around.

They spend another hour dancing to the music, and it lets Annabeth forget everything.

The fact that she has to take the SATs next weekend, the ache in her foot that she should probably get checked out. Oh, and the fact that’s she’s falling for her best friend.

-

“Stop hogging.” Percy grumbles, tugging the blanket closer to him. Annabeth stills, lying stiff as a board on the opposite side of the big air mattress. She keeps herself as far from Percy as possible, her heart never quitting its race.

“Sorry.” She murmurs, letting him have some of it. He sighs, and his breathing settles into that of a sleeper again. And though she fights the exhaustion, it pulls down on her lids, and she falls asleep.

-

There is an arm on her stomach. Annabeth opens her eyes and sees the tanned skin splayed across hers, feels her side pressed against another, her feet twined with someone else’s. She lifts her eyes and finds Percy, sleeping peacefully.

She ignores the urge to run her fingers along his cheek, and doesn’t move.

She pretends it’s real. She pretends there some young couple, in love, out for a weekend getaway. She wills it to be true with every ounce of her being.

But she knows when Percy wakes up it will be the same. He will be her best friend, and only that, and she’ll have to play her part too.

-

Annabeth sits in the library with Percy during their off period. Percy taps his pencil against the desk, humming some unrecognizable tune.

“How’s the studying going?” She asks, arching a brow. Percy stills, and looks at her sheepishly.

“Well…”

“That’s what I thought.” She replies, smirking.

“I have a lot on my mind.” He says, sticking his tongue out.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Do you have a date to the dance yet?” He asks, not meeting her eyes

Annabeth’s heart kick starts and she leans forward in her seat.

“No.” She breathes.

And it’s coming its coming she knows it’s coming.

And then it doesn’t.

“I think I’m gonna ask Lissa Hendricks. You think she’d say yes?”

Her face falls, but she puts it back together in a millisecond. She smiles, and nods her head, ignoring the knife in her stomach.

“Of course. She’d be stupid not to.”

-

Annabeth has been best friends with Percy Jackson for most of her 17 years of life.

She’s been in love with him for 3 months.

He has been oblivious for 3 months.

He had a short fling with Lissa Hendricks, doomed from the beginning. It fell, inevitably, and Annabeth was there to pick up the few broken pieces.

She wants to tell him. She does.

Because ever since they had sex 4 months ago, he seems okay about it, and she does not. And she doesn’t know how much longer she can take it.

She stands in front of Percy’s bedroom door, having been given a key years ago.

She’s going to do it. This is it.

She opens the door, her heart filling the hallway.

Percy is laying on his bed, and there is a girl underneath him. He has no shirt, hers is mussed, and anyone with a brain could see where this is going.

She wants to move. No, needs to move. But she’s frozen and her feet are nailed to the floor, and Percy must hear the door because he climbs off the girl, Lissa Hendricks, and looks at Annabeth in shock.

“Annabeth what-“

“I’m sorry.” She spits, turning and running out the door before he can stop her.

She flies down the stairs, not wanting to join the family waiting for the elevator.

Tears stream down her cheeks, big, fat, wet, thick tears full of her almost confession.

She stops at the bottom of the stairwell, sliding down against the wall, head tucked into her knees.

_Breathe breathe fucking breathe_ she tells herself, trying to control the sobs threatening to rack her chest.

This is what it feels like. This aching, this brokenness, this shattering of a heart. It’s the thing that kills people.

“Annabeth?” She looks up, and finds Percy standing over her, his shirt on backwards. She stands up quickly, wiping her cheeks.

“I’m sorry for walking in on you. I should have knocked.”

“Are you crying?” He asks, looking down at her.

“No.” She snarls, turning away from him. He puts a hand on her shoulder, and she shrugs it off.

“Don’t.” She says.

“You’ve been really different ever since…” He doesn’t finish, but he doesn’t have to.

“You said it wouldn’t be weird.” He says softly. She turns to look at him, and lifts her chin.

“I guess I lied.”

She pushes past him, scrambling to hold whatever dignity she has left.

But he calls out her name, and she stops.

She turns around, and he is standing in the doorway of the stairwell.

“What’s going on?” He asks, concern dotting his features.

She shuts her eyes, taking in a breath.

“I love you. That’s what.” She tells him.

And before he can break her heart even further, she walks out of the apartment building and into the bustling streets.

-

She avoids Percy for two weeks. Deletes his texts before she reads them, doesn’t answer the calls, turns around whenever he walks towards her.

She is humiliated.

Her friends are worried, but she won’t tell anyone what happened. And apparently, Percy hasn’t spoken either.

He officially ended it with Lissa. Rachel told her, and she pretended not to care. But Rachel saw right through her, and squeezed her hand.

She is in her favorite bookstore, running her hands along the battered covers. It feels like home, this little store tucked in an alley. She loves it.

“Thought I’d find you here.” She whirls, and finds Percy standing in front of her, hands in his pocket, cheeks red from the cold outside.

She nods, dropping her hands to her side.

“Will you walk with me?” He asks, gesturing outside.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She warns.

“Please.” He asks, his voice breaking.

She bites the inside of her cheek, and nods her head. She follows him out of the store onto the sidewalk, careful not to touch him when they walk.

“I thought about what you said.”

“Oh.” Annabeth says, gearing for the worst.

“It has been weird. I was pretending it was fine, but it wasn’t. It isnt.” Percy admits, stopping, turning towards Annabeth.

Snow has started to fall, the sun setting, and the streets are clearing. They are the only two on the block.

“I-“

“Wait. Let me finish.” Percy says softly. He looks down at his sneakers, his foot tapping like it does when he’s nervous.

“It has been weird. And not because of the thing itself, but because-because-“He stops, running a hand over his face.

“Look, every time I see some guy talk to you, it’s like I want to puke. I wanted to take you away, keep you safe from everything that hurt. And I didn’t understand why. I didn’t understand that I was doing the hurting. I thought it was just normal protectiveness.” He says quickly, tripping over his words, another nervous-Percy behavior.

Annabeth doesn’t speak, just watches him

“And I think I know why. I think I know why I care more.”

“And why is that?” She questions, though she believes she already knows the answer.

He moves toward her suddenly, cupping her face in his hands. He leans his forehead against hers, and she can feel his cold breath on her lips.

“Because I’m in love with you.”

“What?”

“I think I always was, I just didn’t realize. And I know we did this whole thing in the wrong order, but if you could forgive me, and give me a chance I-“

She cuts him off, pressing her lips against his, and she doesn’t care that it’s freezing, or that her lips are chapped, or that snow is soaking them both.

Because here, now, the boy she loves pressed against her, she is invincible.


End file.
